Uncover Another
by MayBeAPolarBear
Summary: Set in AU humanstuck universe, Karkat Vantas discovers that change doesn't always have to be a bad thing once he gets to know John better. R-M for strong language and future mature content.
1. Chapter 1

It had been a particularly miserable couple of months. The grizzly November weather was just enough to put anyone into a foul mood, and Karkat Vantas was definitely no exception to this.

"This whole month is a load of shit." Karkat complained to his close friend, Sollux Captor, who was busy tapping away on his laptop whilst lying on his bed, and not really paying much attention to him. "It's basically like a whole month dedicated to pre-Christmas bullshit. Everyone always gets too excited over this cheap excuse of a religious holiday."

Sollux peered up from his work momentarily; he had been slaving over some evidencing document for his Information Technology class. He seemed a little dazed as he looked over to Karkat (who seemed to be getting absorbed into the old squishy beanbag he was sitting in), but that was to be expected, as he had been staring at a computer monitor for little over an hour. Adjusting his stereoscopic spectacles, Sollux tilted his head thoughtfully.

"Well, the retail anticipation leading up to the actual holiday is pretty annoying. Especially when they play the same stupid Christmas songs in the shops." Sollux replied dryly. "But I guess I can put up with that? It's all worth it for the sweet gifts you get. It's the time when my extended family suddenly remembers that I exist, and pelt me with spending cash."

"Don't those ridiculous adverts on TV drive you insane?" Karkat leant forward from the red beanbag he was seated in. "I'd rather be forced to watch your shitty cartoon shows than have to endure those ads."

"Yeah, KK, kind of..." Sollux mumbled absentmindedly, and by then, Karkat realized that his friend had completely zoned out of the conversation and was now back to his normal position; sprawled out of his stomach on top of that red-and-blue duvet, mashing his fingers into the keyboard once again.

Karkat sighed. Sollux had invited him to stay over for the weekend, as they'd seen little of each other since school started. This was mainly due to a couple of reasons, one being the fact that another term meant another shit load of work, and both boys were under a lot of pressure with their college courses. And secondly, Sollux hadn't forgotten about his beloved boyfriend.

In fact, any spare time Sollux had, he'd spend it with Eridan. And Karkat despised that. Suddenly, his best friend was immobilized by the disgusting powers of 'love'. No longer would they be down at the local park, exchanging harmless banter and taking jovial jabs at each other. Nor would they be playing videogames, or generally just messing around. Eridan Ampora had his devoted boyfriend wrapped around his little finger, and Karkat was powerless to this. And now, even though he'd invited him round, Sollux was neck-deep in homework and revision. Karkat could at least appreciate the gesture. At least he'd tried to make an effort to hang out with him. Unfortunately, his efforts were as futile as he was around Eridan, leaving Karkat with bruised feelings.

Karkat knew he'd have to accept that Sollux was moving on sooner or later. But it hurt him. Hurt to think about how one day, they might not be as close. He hated Eridan even before the two were together, and now he resented him even more. But he just had to grin and bear it, as upsetting Eridan would mean upsetting Sollux would mean that—

He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his fingertips to his temples. Thinking about it was just going to make things worse, and Karkat was brilliant at over-thinking and making things worse than they actually were. He sunk back into the cushy material of the beanbag, defeated.

"Hey, Sollux."

Sollux turned his head away from his work. "Yeah?"

"Is the thing between you and Eridan still in secret?"

Sollux grimaced slightly. Well, it looked like a grimace, as the corners of his lips drooped and his dark honey eyes narrowed. "Unfortunately, yeah. I know we'd both love it if everyone was nice and accepting, and wished you merry wishes of rainbows and unicorns, but obviously the world doesn't work like that."

Karkat winced at Sollux's tone. A sharp, sarcastic response; a warning sign to Karkat to leave the other boy in peace. He clearly was in no mood to talk right now, anyway. Karkat hauled himself up from the beanbag's cushiony grip, and turned to leave. Sollux didn't even seem to notice; totally consumed by the assignment he'd been given.

"Uh, I'm going for a walk. The fresh air might clear my mind a bit." Karkat said, zipping up his blood-red jacket as he prepared to leave. "I guess I'll be back in a while?"

"No problem, dude." Sollux didn't bother to look up again, his gaze fixed firmly on his computer monitor. "Ask mum what's for dinner tonight if you see her."

Karkat closed the door behind him. He could just about feel the indifferent attitude towards him, and that stung. Stung like a god damn bee. He shuffled down the stairs and into the hallway.

It was so strange not to be ambushed by Sollux's dog every time he went downstairs. Poor Bumble. And although Karkat didn't particularly like being slobbered all over by the now-deceased retriever, he couldn't help but feel slightly empty inside. Naturally, Sollux had taken the dog's untimely death worse than he did, but he still missed that pure-hearted pup. His dad had offered to get him another dog, but Sollux had simply replied that he could never replace Bumble, nor did he want to. So the Captor household was pet-free once again.

He passed Sollux's mother in the hallway and; to comply with her son's request, asked her what she was making for the evening meal.

"I actually thought I'd treat you two tonight," she said with a smile, "I'm going to order pizza from _Dominos_ later. What would you like?"

Well, Karkat wasn't exactly going to deny an offer of a pizza takeaway. "Pepperoni would be awesome. Do you think I could get some chicken fingers with it, too?"

"No problem, dear. You're no trouble at all compared to Sollux and my husband, those two eat like troopers!"

Karkat forced a laugh. He saw a lot more of Sollux's mum than he used to, and he was especially glad that his friend's parents had figured something out between them and had gotten back together. It was a while before Sollux's mum decided to move back in with his dad, but ever since she did, things had only seemed to be getting better for the Captors. Despite the unfortunate accident with Bumble earlier that year, their lives seemed to be looking up. Sollux's dad got promoted at work, and was now earning a higher salary that could support his family pretty comfortably. Sollux's mum dropped her working hours on hearing about the promotion, meaning she was often in a better mood. And Sollux was happy maintaining a great relationship with the person he cared the most about. It still pained Karkat to think that someone else was making him happy, but there was nothing he could do about it. He was moving on, and eventually, he'd have to do the same. Maybe his life would get better too? Karkat shook these thoughts from his head, because there wasn't really much point in worrying about the future at that precise moment.

"I'm actually going out for a walk. Do you have any idea of what time the pizza will get here?" Karkat asked, slipping on his trainers and fastening the Velcro straps securely.

"I'd say around 6-ish? I'm going to order it soon. Make sure you put something warm on, it's rather cold outside. Wouldn't want you to catch a chill."

"Haha, it's okay." Karkat patted his jacket. "This old thing tends to keep me warm, but thanks for your concern."

Sollux's mother disappeared through the door leading into the living room; presumably to ask her husband what he wanted from _Dominos_. Karkat saw this as his cue to leave, and quietly opened the front door and stepped out into the cool night air.

It really was pretty cold outside, and as soon as Karkat had closed the front door behind him, he'd wished he'd brought a thicker jacket. Oh well. He plunged his hands into his pockets and shuffled down the driveway on out onto the street.


	2. Chapter 2

Karkat was trying to figure out where he was actually going to go. It didn't matter where he went, just as long as he was outside getting some air. That was when he remembered the local park; the one that he and Sollux used to spend all of their free time just a couple of months back. He was just about to turn off down the road which led to the back entrance of the park, when something rather heavy latched onto his back.

"Hey, Karkat!" The mysterious assailant purred happily, clinging to the short boy's shoulders. "How have you been? I haven't talked to you in AGES!"

Karkat let out sigh of mock-annoyance. "Hello, Nepeta. I was pretty good before you jumped out of nowhere."

Nepeta released Karkat's shoulder's from her vice-like grip, and plopped down onto the sidewalk with a light thud. "If you're a predator, like me, you always have to catch your victim by surprise, hehe. But never mind that, how are things? I'm sorry that I haven't had time to see you in person! Though I think I talked to you on Pesterchum a few nights ago… How are things with Sollux?"

Ever since the accident with Bumble, Nepeta had toned down a lot from her original annoying personality. Sure, some odd quirks still remained, but other than that, she was pretty decent to be around, and that was no understatement. At least Karkat thought so. She'd dropped the cat puns and the obnoxious shipping (although she was still very interested in nosing into other people's relationships), and her obsession with the_Hello Kitty_ franchise was almost completely non-existent. Today, she was wearing a thick wool sweater with some Disney-esque cat design sewn into it, along with a pair of baggy jeans. Her short, chocolate-brown hair looked especially pretty today; carefully combed and fastened back with a cherry-red hairband. The sickening green highlights which had been worn in her once-mangled mess of hair had long faded, leaving behind a more natural appearance. The blue cat beanie was now gone, although Karkat knew she still wore it at home. Her new look really suited her, as if she was putting her crazy cat-obsessive shipper days behind her, and embracing a more mature way of behaving. Nepeta had blamed herself for the accident, and been wracked with guilt ever since. And Karkat supposed that she changed because she suddenly realized her behaviour was unacceptable. After all, she was turning 15 in a few weeks.

"Ugh, he invited me round to stay at his for the weekend, but he doesn't have time for me anymore…" replied Karkat, with a soft, melancholy tone to his voice. "We literally played one videogame, and then he announced that he had to finish a project or something. What's the fucking point of me even coming round if he's just going to do his shitty schoolwork or babble on about his 'wonderful' boyfriend?"

"Yeah, that's pretty mean of him. Why invite a friend round if you're not going to bother with them? I hate to say this, Karkat, but I think you're going to have to let him go for a bit." Nepeta sighed sadly, giving him a comforting hug. Even though she was 14, and he was 18, they were about the same size. Karkat was just really short. "You can still be friends with him, of course! But just back down a little bit, maybe even concentrate on getting a girlfriend or something!"

"But we've always been best friends…" Karkat's pained voice came out muffled, as he spoke against the fabric of Nepeta's sweater, as he was cradled in her warm embrace. "It really hurts me to think that one day, we won't be as close."

"You're only hurting yourself by holding onto him!" Nepeta hummed, giving Karkat a squeeze. "Just give him some time. The more you pester him, the more he'll want to avoid you."

"I guess you're right." Karkat had given into what her 14 year old views as if they were the absolute truth. "I guess there's a lot more stuff I could be doing than worrying about him. But I just care for my friends, y'know? I don't want to lose them…"

"It always hurts when you lose friends, and I know that better than anyone. But there are always new things around the corner that you have to look forward to! Change _can_ be a scary thing, but it really doesn't have to be! Just look at things in a more positive way!"

"I… I guess you're right." Karkat drew away from the hug. Nepeta may have been a little eccentric, but she was good at getting advice across; even if it was in her own strange way. "Thanks, Nep, you're the best."

Nepeta grinned with pleasure. "No problem! I'm always here if you need to talk!"

The girl beamed joyfully for a few seconds, before snapping back to reality and realizing that the reason why she pounced upon her friend in the first place.

"OH!" Nepeta exclaimed, grabbing hold of Karkat's shoulders excitedly, "I forgot to mention! You know that my birthday's coming up soon, right?"

"Of course I do. Wouldn't miss it for the world!" Karkat always remembered his friends' birthdays. He always made sure that he'd bought a card and a present at least a week before the actual day, and was always the very first to wish them a happy birthday, even though you wouldn't think he'd be the type of person to be very merry about those kinds of occasions. That was just a thing about Karkat; he really did care. And although he came across as a miserable git around others, he really did give a shit every once in a while about his friends. Some could even go as far to say that he cared too much.

"Awesome! So, I'm assuming you'll be coming to my party, then?" Nepeta bubbled, "Equius is holding a little thing round at his place, just for me! Isn't that great? He asked me if it was okay if he invited a few of his own friends along, and I said that was just fine! The more the merrier, right?"

Karkat's brow creased. Even though he was a very close friend of Nepeta's, Equius seemed rather… strange. He was the sort of person who you wouldn't want to get in a fight with. Or even start up a conversation with, really. Karkat found that Equius was incredibly awkward to talk to; that being due to both the aggressive vibe he gave off and lack of any normal social skills. Nepeta seemed to like him enough though; as the two were pretty much inseparable. Knowing about the typical crowd that Equius would usually hang around with, that one thought alone deterred him from wanting to step foot into that weirdo's house.

Nepeta obviously saw that Karkat was troubled. "Pleeeeease, Karkat? I really want you to come. Everyone else I've asked has turned me down…"

Karkat was conflicted. He _really_ didn't want to hang around Equius' place for god knows how long. But then he didn't want to upset Nepeta. He knew that she wasn't very popular with the other kids at her school; even though she'd improved a lot in the past few months, and that he would very likely be the only one to accept her invitation. With a sigh, he managed to force a smile for his dear friend.

"Okay. I'll go. But only because you're my friend, alright?" Karkat decided at last. Nepeta looked so overjoyed that Karkat feared she'd let loose an eardrum-ripping scream; as she used to do when she got excited. Luckily, she didn't.

"You're awesome!" Nepeta gave him another asphyxiating squeeze. "I'm so happy you're coming to my party! I know that you and Equius aren't exactly the best of buddies, but I'll make it up to you, promise!"

Suddenly, her smile faded as she checked her wristwatch. "Oh no! I was supposed to be discussing party plans at Equius' house 15 minutes ago! Time flies, huh?"

The brunette gave Karkat a quick hug, before bolting off down the road._She's an odd one_, Karkat thought to himself. The dark-haired teen pulled out his mobile phone and looked at the time, and to his surprise, it was almost 6 o'clock. Time to go back to Sollux's, he supposed. Karkat swivelled round and turned back the way he came, back to the Captor residence. But he couldn't stop thinking about what Nepeta had said._Change_. Karkat never reacted well to change. Everything was changing, and he didn't know how well he was going to cope.


End file.
